Aeon Digital licenses Windows Media 9 Series for its next generation DVD Player

You are sending an email that contains the article
and a private message for your recipient(s).

Your Name:

Your e-mail:

* Required!

Recipient (e-mail):

*

Subject:

*

Introductory Message:

HTML/Text
(Photo: Yes/No)

(At the moment, only Text is allowed...)

Message Text:

Aeon Digital Corp. has announced the availability of a Next Generation DVD Hardware Set, the first to offer support for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - News) Windows Media Video 9 Series encoding and playback.

The OEM hardware set that Aeon Digital has created based on the Equator BSP-15 chip will give the consumer the capability to do more than just play movies. The hardware set targets 3 market segments: DVD Player, Digital Recording and Broadband Entertainment. The hardware set has a TV tuner that enables users the ability to record their favorite television shows and gives them the capability of affordably recording digitally today. Aeon Digital's hardware set was designed around the robust feature set of Microsoft's Windows Media Video 9 Series that will enable the unit to record and play back to CDR-W 2 hours of high quality digital audio and video content.

The hardware set is Ethernet ready and will allow OEMs the power to enable consumers to stream Windows Media 9 Video content directly from the Internet and into a home entertainment center using a cable modem or DSL.

Polaroid(TM), which has announced a new line of consumer electronics at CES, has licensed Aeon Digital's Next Generation DVD Hardware set for use within their new DVD-DVR 700(TM). The Polaroid unit will begin to enter the consumer marketplace toward the later half of 2nd Quarter 2003. The suggested manufacturer's retail price will be $299.00.

Giovanni D'Andrea, CEO of Aeon Digital Corp., states, "Aeon Digital is the first company to license out a hardware set that encompasses Windows Media 9 Video encoding. We are thrilled to be working with Microsoft and Equator Technologies to deliver this new DVD hardware set that will enable the Next Generation in consumer DVD devices. We're extremely pleased that Polaroid has chosen to include our hardware set into their recently announced line of consumer electronics for distribution in North America. Using Windows Media 9 Video the future is here today."

"We are excited to provide the enabling technology for the new Aeon Digital's DVD Hardware Set. After our cooperation with Microsoft to become the first to deliver Windows Media 9 Series to the consumer set top box space last September, we are now taking the next step of enabling OEMs such as Aeon Digital to turn technology into products and get them to store shelves and living rooms," says Rich Christopher, President and CEO of Equator Technologies, Inc.

"This is an exciting step for home entertainment," said Dave Fester, general manager Windows Digital Media Division, Microsoft Corporation. "Together Aeon Digital and Equator are building on the innovations in audio and video compression with Windows Media 9 Series to tap totally new scenarios for consumers in their living rooms."

Based on the Multi-Format DVD Player Reference Design from Equator, the Aeon Digital OEM hardware set features a dual tray design: